Tag Archives: ivory free Canada

If you are Canadian, you may be one of the many people who aren’t aware that that Canada allows the legal trade of ivory. Elephants will be extinct in the wild within 20 years if all countries don’t implement strict bans on the sale of ivory.

If you would like to ADD YOUR VOICE, click here to send your MP a pre-written letter asking to close the legal trade.

The federal Minister Catherine McKenna has already received a petition and a letter from Elephanatics. The petition is now over 300,000 and the letter was endorsed by 95 national and international scientists, conservationists and animal welfare organizations, including SPCA, Jane Goodall Institute, Born Free and Wildlife At Risk International.

The Minister has not responded.

Kate Brooks, director of documentary film The Last Animals, states, “It’s absolutely imperative that every country on the planet enact legislation to combat the global wildlife trafficking crisis and stop stimulating demand for ivory by continuing to trade. I hope Canada will join the countries that are standing up for elephants and the rangers who put their lives on the line trying to protect them.”

Several US states, France, China, Philippines, and the United Kingdom have banned the sale of ivory within their borders. The Netherlands will close its raw ivory market in 2019; Taiwan will ban its ivory trade by 2020; Hong Kong will follow in 2021; and Singapore is considering the most stringent ban to date.

Elephanatics is a small Vancouver-based not-for-profit that advocates on behalf of African and Asian elephants. We’re a small team with a host of amazing volunteers and advisors. In response to the recent massacre of elephants in Botswana, Elephanatics was asked to comment on CTV with journalist Ben Mulroney. Dr. Rene Beyers, a zoologist at UBC and one of our amazing supporters and advisors, answered some tough questions on why the massacre happened, and why Canada still hasn’t done anything to close the legal trade of ivory.

A big thanks to Rene for being the voice of elephants in Canada on our behalf. You can watch this interview here. #ivoryfreecanada